Akwa Ibom State Government has insisted that the Bulk Purchase Policy of Governor Umo Eno was for the good of the people.
It added that when fully implemented, it would mitigate the high cost of food items in the state.
The Chairman of Bulk Purchase Agency, Dan Akpan stated this during a Ministerial briefing tagged Arise Scorecard organized by the Ministry of Information and held at the State Secretariat with the theme: “Food Sufficiency and Security:The Intervention and Sustainability Strategy of Gov Umo Eno.”
Akpan who was flanked by the Commissioners for Agriculture, Dr Offiong Offor; Economic Development, Mr Emem Bob and Information, Ini Ememobong said it would be insensitive for the state government to turn blind eyes while the people are plunged into “multidimensional poverty and hunger,’ therefore, the decision for the establishment of the agency to reduce the cost of food items.
According to him, “Food sufficiency programme is targeted at stimulating economic growth in the state. When you have food sufficiency, it’s going to reduce crime, and at the end of the day everyone will be safe. The Bulk Purchase Agency is to mitigate the high cost of food items in the market.”
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Offiong Offor said the state government has put in place a lot of intervention programmes to boast food production and reduce the prices of food stuffs in the state.
While urging the people to heed the governor’s call and return to farming, the commissioner called on farmers to form themselves into cooperative groups for easy accessibility even as she urged more local government chairmen to donate lands to state government for farming.
She also said the Ministry of Agriculture is working in partnership with its Internal security counterpart to protect the farmlands against herds’ destruction even as she disclosed that the governor has extracted commitment from relevant stakeholders to put a stop to open grazing and cattle destruction of crops in the farmlands.
On his part, the Commissioner for Economic Development, Emem Bob said the state government would ensure that about 2.3 million vulnerable persons as captured in the state social register benefit from the intervention programmes.
He explained that the register captured 600,000 households which contains the 2.3 million vulnerable persons.
Setting the tone at the event, the Information commissioner said the briefing was necessary inorder to inform the people about government programmes on food sufficiency.
He also thanked the governor for being unbending in addressing the current hardship in the state.
He said, “the truth is that there is hunger, people are living in poverty due to COVID and fuel subsidy removal. It is the duty of government to come up with policies and intervention programmes to address these issues. Bulk purchase is first of all an intervention policy.”
